Impact of Advertising Expense on the Profitability of Banks: A Study on the Leading Banks of Pakistan.

Advertising has always been a crucial element in the uplifting of profitability in firms of every sector. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of advertising expense on the profitability of banks in Pakistan. The research study utilized primary as well as secondary sources for data collection. This research focuses on five leading banks of Pakistan and data on their profitability and advertising expenditure from the year 2012 till 2021 was gathered from their financial reports for analysis. Two other instruments i.e., an online questionnaire and interview were also made use of in order to collect primary data. A total of 500 questionnaires filled by bank customers were included in the study to find out the impact of advertising on customers' purchase decisions and the Joint Director of the State Bank was also interviewed to develop a wholistic understanding of the variables and their impact on each other in the context of banking sector. The findings of this research indicated that advertising has a significant positive impact on the profitability of banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]